Because I Can
by Super Artemis
Summary: This pretty much my take on the first Abandoned Zoo scenes in the SSE. Slight improvising on the characters, so expect some OOC-ness. One shot. Really not that angsty. Summary does suck, but there's not much to summarize.


**This would be my first one-shot. Thanks in advance for clicking on my lame. _But I actually wrote something mostly serious! _It's a worthy cause for celebration. -nodnod-**

**Anyway, I do think I took their basic characterization to some sort of extreme, so this is a little OOC. But that's been mentioned. And it took me a while to convince myself a huge explanation of the character's past wasn't needed. Bahahaehhhh.**

**I definitely own these characters. That's why I'm a nobody writing fanfiction in her school library.**

**__________**

Lucas kicked at a rock, watching it skitter across the cracked concrete of the abandoned zoo.

The wind gently blew dead leaves through the gray sky, not quite strong enough to ruffle his short, spiked blonde hair. From a distance, one would think he was a normal kid, perhaps playing with his friends. But come closer, and his sad, dark blue eyes would tell a story—of a hero, of a villain, and of a boy who'd seen much more than he should have, more than his twelve years could hold.

And yet, to the person Lucas was looking for, none of that seemed to matter; Lucas was still a wuss, still a weakling, and an annoying one at that.

Ness, a boy two years Lucas' senior, had been in relatively the same boat; a boat which can be summed up in two letters:

PK.

Psycho-kinesis, PSI, telepathy… The physical form of mental 'powers', used in combat. Both could use them. Both were heroes.

And they could not be more different.

Ness was often described as 'strong and courageous, to the point of over-confidence'.

Lucas is known to be timid, cautious and gentle, and was known to be a crybaby.

Ness grew up in Onett, a bustling, successful city.

Lucas, Tazmily Village in the Nowhere Islands, a small, peaceful place, which was said to never have known fear or sadness until the events that triggered Lucas' quest.

Ness was always on good terms with his family.

Lucas' was torn apart.

And at that moment, Ness was nowhere to be found.

"Ness?" Lucas murmured. Truth be told, he didn't exactly _want _to find Ness. But, he had to. He was the only person he'd seen in, well, a while. Lucas wasn't sure where he was, while Ness seemed to be more than sure.

In fact, he was completely sure. Ness happened to be perched in the metal frame of what once housed giraffes, resting with his back against a rusty pole, his legs hanging over an iron beam. His black hair, mostly hidden by a baseball cap, fell just on his forehead, behind his ears and just above his neck, bangs nowhere near his intelligent brown eyes.

Theoretical intelligence, of course.

Just as Lucas had almost no desire to find his companion, Ness felt no need to be with his. It wasn't as if he'd ditched him, anyways, it was more of a personal space thing. He'd meet up with Lucas soon, anyway…

…After a nap…

Lucas, at this point, had walked way out of Ness' field of view, searching for the exit.

_Why is this here, anyway? Why wasn't something built over it? It's not like I wanted to be here… What's up with this place…? Ness, where'd you-_

BAM.

Lucas paused. Without turning around:

"Ness?"

No… There was something familiar about the sound… Something…

He slowly turned to look over his shoulder.

Right behind him was a huge rock statue, ten times his size. Which isn't very threatening, but, one, it wasn't there before. And, two, it was in the shape of Pokey Minch—a form Lucas remembered all too well.

Pokey was a boy he knew, someone who became his enemy after becoming corrupted. And Lucas never expected to see something like this again.

He backed up, slowly, and the statue lumbered forward. Taking a deep breath, making a decision quickly, Lucas broke into a run.

Though he was a decently fast runner, every one step the statue took equaled fifteen of his own. The only motivation Lucas had was to stay alive; he knew that as long as he was alone he had no chance of fighting it and winning.

_Run, run, jump, climb, run, run, get down, keep going…swim?_

Without leaving time to think, he dove into a pond. The murky water obscured his vision, and he wasn't sure how long his breath could carry him. He kicked his legs as hard as he could, quickly slipping through a break in the wall at the end of the pond. He emerged on land, again, out of breath and gasping, wiping muck from his face.

Lucas turned to face the wall hoping he'd managed to give Pokey the slip. He continued running, albeit much, much slower, and then…

BAM.

King P… fell from the sky? Lucas looked back in panicked disbelief.

"No… That's not… Fair… How is that even _possible?!"_ But he had no time to ponder his question, the chase was back on.

_Run, run, duck, jump, double jump…_

Not for the first time, he silently thanked his abilities, although if he had never developed them, he never would have been in this mess.

_Run, run, run, Ness, I hate you, jump, run, climb…_

Pokey was catching up, and Lucas' chest was about to collapse. He had no idea how he was going to escape, he needed help, any help at all.

And what he got was a branch.

A branch, sticking out of the ground.

A branch that managed to catch his foot and trip him.

And he couldn't pull himself out.

And King P. was right there.

And his life couldn't end like this, could it? Not in such a pathetic fashion. Why didn't he fight, why didn't he _try? _Why-

"PK THUNDER!"

A purple, crackling ball of energy suddenly burst out from behind him. It passed over Lucas' head and hit King P. in the middle of the stomach, connecting with such force it knocked the statue over, crashing into the ground with a now uncomfortably recognizable 'BAM'.

Lucas opened his eyes just in time to see Ness hit the concrete just in front of him, landing on his feet with his legs spread, one hand out and the other on the ground to steady himself.

"Need help, wuss?" Ness straightened up, looked over his shoulder and grinned.

"N-ness…" Lucas almost whimpered, freeing his foot from that blasted branch. He shook his head and got up, trying to clear his mind.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ness frowned.

"…Nothing. Thanks,"

"Man, you know, that was sort of pathetic." Ness turned around to face Lucas full-on.

"What was?"

"You should've fought." He sighed. _Man. This kid really _is _weak. Why am I even trying to protect him, anyway? _

…_Right. Because he needs it._

"Um, Ness…" Something flashed through Lucas' eyes as he backed up.

"It wasn't like it was hard to take down or anything," Ness continued, ignoring the boy.

"Ness…"

"_What?_" Ness asked, annoyed.

"Behind you…" Lucas pointed. He knew Ness was wrong—Pokey didn't go down easy. He never did. And the statue, the statue… the statue had broken open to reveal an enemy he'd seen times before.

Pokey, the actual child Pokey, was sealed in a capsule stuck to the middle of a giant, spider like machine; it was red, purple, and seemed to crackle with electricity. Actually, it _did _crackle.

Ness slowly turned to face it. But he smirked, and his eyes glimmered.

"Bring it!"

He jumped right in, almost literally, taking a head start to attack. He easily jumped over Pokey, the adrenaline of the fight already getting to him, spurring him on.

"PK FLASH!" Ness landed on his feet with a thud. "Nngh…"

Lucas hesitated, if only for an instant.

"Ah, Ness…" He ran forward, confident now that he had an ally that he could beat this. But he was stopped when Ness flung his arm out across Lucas' chest.

"I'm fine," He said watching Pokey advance. "Just stay back."

"No!" Lucas frowned.

"Listen to me! Stay back! You can't do this!"

Lucas obeyed, stepping away from the action disappointed, almost angry. Who was Ness to judge what he could and could not do?

Maybe because he ran.

Maybe because Ness could do this on his own.

Because Lucas needed someone beside him.

Because he was weak.

But

could Ness really do this without help?

He was tiring, Lucas could tell. Pokey was getting more and more hits on him, and Ness was getting less and less. Lucas didn't want that.

And Ness didn't either, didn't want to admit defeat, that he couldn't do it. Like he'd done before. Couldn't lose again.

And he jumped up again, for another mid-air attack. What he didn't expect was a laser.

"Holy—" He tried to dodge the bright purple beam, but it came too fast. It sent him crashing to the street, painfully connecting with the rock-hard ground. "Ow…" He got up, blood dripping slightly from his cracked lip, his scratched cheeks, everywhere possible. Convincing himself he was undeterred, he got up, shaking.

"PK—"

"PK FREEZE!" Lucas, without pausing, interrupted the older boy from Pokey's other side. Pokey, caught off-guard by the icy attack, stopped for an instant, giving Lucas just enough time to yell at Ness, who was almost frozen in shock, as though he was the one who had been hit by the assault. "Ness, I'm fine! Seriously, just stay back! You can't fight like that!"

"No, Lucas, you don't understand! I'm okay, I can—"

"No, you can't!" Pokey was moving away from Ness, to Lucas' relief, but was coming back at _him _fast. "PK THUNDER!"

Pokey was, again, stunned just in time, if only for a second. Lucas took a deep breath and went in for the third time.

Ness, now finding himself on the sidelines, too tired to get up from where he'd sat down, was admitting his own defeat.

And he didn't want to watch Lucas fight Ness' battle,

or realize that it was Lucas' fight, too.

He wanted to win on his own.

Without help. From anyone.

And he couldn't protect Lucas now.

Because Lucas was fighting for him.

And yet…

"PK LOVE!" Lucas yelled out breathily. He'd been hit far more times than he'd have liked to admit, and he hadn't been fighting near as long as Ness had.

But, it hit.

And that was all it took.

Pokey very near exploded, the machine almost crashing in on itself.

Breathing heavily, Lucas admired his victory. Then something snapped in his memory.

"Ness?" He looked over the destruction, over the places where the concrete was sticking out from the ground, hit by Pokey's strong attacks.

Ness was lying down, his eyes closed. Not quite thinking, not quite without thought.

"Nes—"

"Lucas." Ness sighed and slowly pulled himself up.

Lucas sighed and looked down at the ground. "Ness, I'm sorry."

"Lucas?"

"No, really, I'm sorry."

"Lucas, shut up for a sec." Ness laughed.

Lucas shut up, shocked.

"You know," Ness swung his arms around and looked up at the slowly clearing sky. "You're not that weak."

Lucas smiled.

"Thank-you."

__________

**Granted, he DOES then run away after Wario, but screw it.**

**Also, I hate FF's spellcheck forever, and MS Word hates my grammar forever.**

**You can review if you want. Critique is always appreciated. Even in flame form.**


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